


Tonsorial

by Born In Captivity- Ineligible to Release (Jashasedai)



Series: Alternate Universe - Tame Racing Drivers [7]
Category: Formula 1 RPF, The Grand Tour (TV) RPF, Top Gear (UK) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe: Tame Racing Drivers, Doubles of Every Character, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-09-03 11:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8712529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jashasedai/pseuds/Born%20In%20Captivity-%20Ineligible%20to%20Release
Summary: In an AU where a secret species is used as Racing Drivers, even Racing Drivers can’t be all fast and furious all the time, sometimes they and their matches have to do everyday things.1) Racing Drivers have to match their human partners, since they won’t let anyone else touch them, that leaves certain jobs only their handlers can take care of.  Haircuts, for one. (Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen)2) Racing Drivers have to match their human partners and vice versa. (Niki Lauda and Kimi Raikkonen, cameo Sebastian Vettel)3) Racing Drivers have to match their human partners.  That doesn’t mean they are the same. (Sebastian Vettel)4) Racing Drivers have to match their human partners, and in a lot of ways, they have to match the other Racing Drivers. (Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, cameo Kimi Raikkonen.)5) Racing Drivers have to match their human partners, some match better inside than out. (Sebastian Vettel)6) Racing Drivers have to match their human partners, but some things can never be equivalent. (Daniil Kvyat)  Tags: Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Alternate Universe, Slavery(CHAPTER 4 AND 6 ARE NEWLY ADDED)





	1. Tonsorial

**Author's Note:**

> Notes:
> 
> Real People don't belong to me.
> 
> This story is fiction and is no reflection on anyone in it. The story does belong to me, as does the AU in which it is set.
> 
> This in a short story anthology. Each chapter is a separate story.
> 
> Characters will be tagged in the chapters in which they appear.
> 
> Please comment, I like comments.

**Tonsorial**

　

At 7am Fernando pulled into the driveway. He parked his special edition Ferrari to the far left side, knowing Kimi always parked his on the right. If Kimi needed to back out of the garage, the car wouldn't be in the way.

  
He listened without reaching out, for Alondra's mind. He liked watching his partner before he knew he was there, seeing him candid, without total focus upon him. He was surprised to find him sleeping. Usually by the time Fernando arrived, Alondra had been up for an hour or two and was already brimming with stories and adventures from his morning, spent alone about the house before the others awoke.

  
He opened the car door, stepped out and walked around to the front door. Usually he was being treated with enthusiastic hugging by now. He arrived at a time before Kimi preferred to be awake, so most mornings when he was scheduled to visit his match, Alondra would be waiting by the door and the two of them would head out on a run, returning later, when more of the household was up.

  
This time he had to knock on the door. Several times.

  
Eventually the door was opened by a red-eyed Kimi. He stood and stared at Fernando, then made the facial expression he made at press conferences, that "listening to someone you cannot hear" expression. "Oh. Come in." He stepped out of the way.

  
Fernando stepped past him into the well-appointed home.

  
Kimi gestured down the hallways towards the kitchen. [I'll go get him.]

  
This power play made Fernando a little uncomfortable, it was one of the reasons he preferred to be here before Kimi was awake. He could spend time with Alondra alone this way. Vettel's Driver was the next one awake most mornings, and he wasn't allowed to talk to Aondra, unless Mark had taken Rabbit off. The big blond was as distant as his match most of the time. He would usually take whatever meal was in the fridge for him and disappear into some part of the house where Fernando and Alondra had never stumbled across him during their time together.

  
Into the off limits upstairs, probably. Fernando understood that Kimi was showing extreme generosity sharing as much of his home as he did with the Drivers and their matches. The downstairs was a substantial space, which were all open to any pairs who happened to be present. The upstairs, though, was open only to the Drivers and Kimi.

  
It was not anything suspicious. It was normal for a man to want limits and privacy in his own home. And for a man like Kimi it was especially understandable. Fernando still didn't like it.

  
The room where Alondra slept was off limits to him. He'd seen it only in passed on images and memories. It was sunny, with a big window that looked out on the back yard.　 There was a sleeping cupboard designed to look like a stylish armoir, and a couch and a dresser, and a bookshelf with a collection of stones and sticks, but no books. There was a stereo and, Fernando had been surprised to see, when Alondra had first shown him the mental tour, a small collection of CD's. There was a little table and chair. It seemed nice, it seemed safe.

  
That didn't mean Fernando liked being kept from Alondra, for any reason. In part because the thing he had wanted most about Alondra being away from the stable was unlimited access. That wasn't the case, though. The contract and Kimi's own rules kept that little bit of distance between them.

  
Another part, though, was just sad. He had made a habit of staying with Alondra until it was to sleep, when he'd been at the stables. Saying goodnight, being close to him as he shut himself down into sleep. Now he couldn't do that anymore. So he had changed his usual schedule, and now visited in the mornings.

  
Which wasn't the way it was going today.

  
Fernando sat on the bar chair in the kitchen where they usually had breakfast.

  
After Sunshine had made his furtive fridge raid, the next Driver awake was usually Rabbit. The biggest driver on the grid right now, he was shy and tended to hunch through the room, as though moment by moment he was practicing scrunching into a cockpit, not as though he had to scrunch to fit in his car, it was custom built to accommodate his frame. The days Sunny was gone, he would appear quietly in the kitchen, greeting Alondra with small gestures, and then clearly battling with himself whether to stay or clear out and leave Alondra to his time with Fernando. He always let Fernando have his time. Those days there was always an undercurrent in Alondra's mind, and their conversations featured a lot more of Rabbit and Mark.

  
It wasn't fair to Rabbit that the few days he could spend time with someone other than Sebastian's Driver, the one he wanted to talk to was talking to Fernando instead. It wasn't fair making them chose to divide their time, so Fernando didn't schedule visits on days Sebastian had Sunny out, anymore.

  
But now...none of them were up. There was no sign of Sunny or Rabbit or even Iceman.　

  
Iceman appeared in the doorway a moment after Fernando thought this. He was wearing white cargo pants and a thin white, long sleeved shirt tucked into his pants, highlighting his muscular abdomen. Racing Drivers certainly had color affinities. Given a choice, they would revert to type.

  
Alondra wore red as easily when driving for Ferrari as he had worn blue for Renault. But given a choice, he wore clothes that were medium blue. He was an extremely monochromatic dresser, they all were.

  
Iceman's eyes settled on Fernando. The teams talked about how the Drivers saw people just as set dressing. That was not accounted for in the measuring gaze levelled at him.　 He knew Alondra saw others, though, and the rest must as well. He smiled at Jaamies. The glacier face with the green eyes kept looking at him. Fernando waved a little, smiling even more.

  
Jaamies cheek twitched and he broke into a big smile. Fernando gestured greetings at him, and he gestured back. Rabbit and Sunny might have a problem with each other, but he loved that it didn't extend to the other drivers. Kimi and Sebastian treated Fernando like the fat kid in the school cafeteria, but Iceman and Sunshine were perfectly friendly.

  
Jaamies opened the fridge and pulled out a white plate that was waiting for him, and pulled out the blue plate that was in the fridge on Fernando's visiting days. He set it in front of Fernando and indicated that he should eat it.

  
He set his own plate down on the counter and pulled the Saran Wrap off. He twirled the fork in his fingers, and took a mouthful of sliced fruit.

  
Fernando asked where Alondra was.

  
Jaamies gulped the mouthful, as though he needed his mouth clear to communicate. He gestured that Alondra was going to build his own car. He was really impressed. It was so nice of Kimi to teach him to be a mechanic. They'd all been up so late at night, and everyone had gone to sleep almost when the sun was rising.

  
Footsteps echoed in the hallway. Kimi followed Alondra into the room. His face was the certain type of blank that Fernando had spent less than 10 minutes learning to recognise as the facial equivalent of a hand slap on the table gesture. The I don't want to talk about this face.

  
The thing that immediately came to Fernando's attention was the black smear up the right side of his partner’s face. Then he noticed the way his hair was plastered to one side of his head and tangled and matted on the other. He was smiling hugely.

  
Fernando jumped off the bar chair. His hands were raised from his sides.

  
He looked at Kimi and gestured, [You let him sleep covered in engine grease?! You're supposed to be taking care of him!]

  
Kimi frowned and gestured back, [It got late and he went to bed before the others. [I forgot to check to make sure he washed it off.　 He is not hurt.]

  
Fernando looked away, there was no turning Kimi where he did not want to be turned. Instead of trying, he reached out for Alondra's hand. [We will get you cleaned up.]

  
One of the downstairs rooms had surely been intended as the master bedroom, but was furnished as another living room. There was a bathroom suite off of it. Fernando opened the closet in the bathroom and looked in at the shelf labeled in blue with Alondra's name. There wasn't really anything in the toiletries stored there that would take engine grease off.

  
There was a tap on the door. Fernando opened it. Kimi was standing there. He held out a jar of concentrated soap designed for mechanics. Fernando took the jar. As he was closing the door, Kimi raised his hands.

  
[I should have checked,] He gestured.

  
Fernando nodded once in acknoledgement and closed the door the rest of the way.

  
There was a large walk-in shower and a jacuzzi. Fernando pulled the upholstered bench out from it's place by the wall and left it beside the counter by one of the sinks. He patted it and Alondra sat down. He watched Fernando fill up the sink with warm water and scoop cleanser out of the jar with two fingers. He wiped the glob onto the edge of the sink and wet one of Alondra's washcloths.

  
'I replaced the head gaskets in an old rally car,' Alondra sent. 'Kimi is a good mechanic. He is good at explaining things.'

  
Fernando nodded. He wrung the rag out. 'He does a poor job keeping you clean.'

  
Alondra tipped his head to the side so Fernando could apply the warm, wet cloth to his face. Fernando looked at the barest hint of a smile and the utter relaxation on the face so like his own.

  
'Did you like fixing the car?'

  
Alondra's eyebrows lifted and his smile deepened.

  
Fernando put some of the cleanser on the corner of the rag and scrubbed it against itself for lather.

  
'There is something inside me that knew it was so right. I want to build a car, Fernando. My own car.'

  
Fernando scrubbed the grease off Alondra's cheek.

  
There was a flame inside Alondra. A tiny, tiny spark. Fernando could see in his mind's eye Alondra, crouching, huddling around the spark. He was holding his hands around it, carefully safeguarding it from being blown out. He should have led Alondra away from the idea, and made sure he never thought of it again. He should have crushed it out.　

He was looking at Fernando with such trust and pleading.

  
'You can't build your own car,' He should have said. Instead he said nothing and washed the grease out of Alondra's beard. Then he moved on to his hair.

  
He scrubbed in short strokes, working from the front of Alondra's hairline. 'What kind of car would you like to build?'

  
Alondra moved his head slightly to give Fernando access as he washed out the grease. He thought about the kind of car he should build. He liked cornering, but straight line speed was important, too. And it should be blue.

  
Fernando smiled. 'Yes, it should be blue.' He looked closely at Alondra's hair as he washed it. 'This dye needs to be done again.'

  
'I noticed the colour changing since the last race.'

  
'Blond this time? Like Pedra?'

  
Alondra laughed. His voice was deeper that any other driver on the grid, because he'd learned to speak from the V10 engines that had been the basis for F1 when they started racing. Jaamies had a deeper tone, and so did Sugarboy, but the younger Drivers had learned to speak from V8's and in some cases, V6's. 'I would be blond if you were.'

  
Which was a funny thing for him to say, Fernando thought, as he carded his fingers through the damp hair, checking for lingering grease, because the roots that were barely beginning to show, while not blond, were definitely more like caramel than cocoa. 'If we ever retire, I will leave your hair to grow out into its natural color.'

  
Alondra laughed at the idea of retiring. 'I am only 28. I have years and years, left.'

  
He swung his legs around to the other side of the bench and leaned back on the counter with both elbows, throwing his head back. 'Shaving? he asked.

  
Fernando checked for residue in this beard and hair, but nodded. 'You have to wash this stuff out beforehand.' He waved at the walk in shower. It had sliding glass doors with privacy glass up to chest height.

Alondra stood and peeled his shirt over his head, then pushed his pajama pants off his hips, unselfconscious. He left Fernando to pick up the clothes from the floor and stepped into the shower.

Billows of steam rose moments after he turned the water on. Fernando handed him the jar of cleanser, then closed the door before the water got everywhere. ‘Use this on your hair, and then skip the conditioner.’ He didn’t have to remind him to use shaving oil. Alondra’s favorite part of their time together was shaving.

While his Racing Driver showered, he pulled the hair care kits out of the closet. There was a black leather clipper case and matching scissors case, and the custom dye that Ferrari had commissioned to his exact hair color. He laid out the tools on a towel on the counter. This hadn’t been a part of his duties he’d expected when he’d been contacted by Renault. It was in the contract, in a super specific while still vague wording. As he recalled it said something about maintaining visual consistency within the aesthetic and values of the company. Which meant it was his job to keep Alondra looking like he did, whatever he chose to do with his own appearance. Some of the guys took this farther than others. On one end of the spectrum, Iceman and Kimi barely had similar haircuts, while on the other end of the spectrum…well, he’d heard stories about Niki Lauda after his Racing Driver got the scars. Compared to that, making sure to dye Alondra’s hair and trim his beard was a walk in the park.

Alondra stepped out of the shower and stood dripping on the bathmat, holding out a hand to be given the towel. Fernando tossed it to him without looking. His Racing Driver made a show of drying off.

"Exhibitionist," Fernando muttered.

‘I am beautiful. You should know.’ Alondra moved up behind Fernando and wrapped his arms around him.

Fernando was unimpressed. "Put on pants." The level of unselfconsciousness his Racing Driver could reach had made Fernando very uncomfortable as a young man, after years of it, he just let it wash over him. Racing Drivers didn’t have the same inhibitions as humans. To Alondra, there was no difference whether he was hugging wearing pants or not. To Fernando, who had a hard time framing someone- who looked just like him and had conversations with him about physics and philosophy- as an animal, this was different. There needed to be pants.

Alondra pulled his pants back on and laughed at Fernando.

"Stop trolling me." Fernando pointed at the bench.

The Racing Driver sat back down, propping his elbows on the counter again. He jutted his chin. ‘Shaving now?’ His legs were splayed out in front of him, heels resting on the tile floor.

‘Trimming now.’ He swept the barber’s cape around his partner’s shoulders and fastened it at the back. He started on Alondra’s left sideburn, using the scissors to cut his beard to an even level, around his chin and upper lip to the other sideburn. He ran his fingers through it, making sure it was satisfactory.

He ran a fresh washcloth under the hot water from the tap. He wrung it out well, because his friend didn’t like the water dripping down his chin. When he draped it over Alondra’s face, there was a sigh that was almost a mechanical purr.

He ran the brush around the bowl of shaving cream.

He could see the tension draining out of Alondra, a better gauge on when to take the towel off than any clock. The flats of his feet touched the floor. Fernando used the still warm cloth to gently wipe his face down.

It would have been easy to make a quick job of it, but Alondra always got so still and blissful, it didn’t seem fair, besides, it made Fernando good to see him looking so well taken care of. Every time he’d ever gotten him back from the stables, and he’d had all his hair chopped short after clearly having had no scissors touch it during the off season, and with terrible razor burn from having it shaved when it was long, it brought up a bile taste in his mouth, and made a vein in his neck throb.

He gently shaved around his beard, checking with a swipe of his fingers to make sure the hair was cut smooth, with the grain. Alondra had a little patch along his jawline where the hair ran in the opposite direction. Fernando shaved this with the grain as well. He thought every time how funny it was that he had the same patch in the same spot.

When he reached the other side of Alondra’s face, and finished trimming along that sideburn, he tapped Alondra silently on the shoulder.

Alondra turned and knelt on the bench, scooping up a handful of the hot water from the sink to rinse his face off. For all that he unabashedly dripped on the bathmat, he was very neat about this, making sure no water ended up on the counter. He stayed on the bench while Fernando emptied the hot water and ran cold, and then rinsed his face in cold water as well. He put on his aftershave.

Fernando rinsed the shaving things in the other sink, and put them on the towel to dry.

Alondra moved the bench into the middle of the room and sat back down on it.

Fernando checked the length of his hair. 'This doesn’t really need to be cut today.'

Alondra looked up at him with big eyes. ‘Please? What if something happens and we miss next week?’

If there was a way to deny him, Fernando hadn’t found it. He wetted the hair down with the spray bottle.

He carded through and trimmed Alondra's hair. Alondra patiently resisted the urge to lean into his touch and basked in the loving attention.

At the end of the haircut Fernando brushed all the hair off and mixed the hair dye. The intense chemical odor made them twist their mouths into identical sneers. With plastic gloves on he worked it, section by section, into Alondra's hair. He applied a tiny amount to his eyebrows and worked it into his beard. He threw away the gloves and washed his hands. There was only a tiny bit of dye left in the bowl, which he rinsed out for next time. He was getting good at estimating how much to mix.

Alondra stood up and headed out of the bathroom.

Fernando followed him, setting his phone's alarm to go off in 40 minutes.

[Look what I learned.] Alondra went down the hallway into the garage.

Fernando gaped, just a little bit, when Alondra passed the Ferrari with only an appreciative pat and purring noise and stopped in front of the open hood of the Fiat.

He was holding his barber's cape around his neck with one hand. He pointed out the head gaskets he'd changed with the other. He explained how a rocker arm worked. He saw the bemused expression on Fernando's face. He leaned against the frame of the car and crossed his arms, in a very un-Driver-like fashion. 'You knew all this.'

The engine compartment was open and generally familiar. 'Yes. I know what a rocker arm does, I know what all of this does. I prefer to drive to being a mechanic, but I do know these things.'

He could feel Alondra wanting to ask why he hadn't told him, then dismissiing the impulse. He buffeted him on the arm and pointed at him. 'You can build a car, too, and we can race them.'

There was no way that would be a fair race. There were no illusions about the two of them being on the same level when it came to driving. 'Wouldn't you rather have a challenge?'

'It isn't crossing the finish line first that matters, it is how hard to work to do your best.'

'It will be just as satisfying, then, when you lap me 3 or 4 times?'

Alondra leveled his gaze at Fernando, then a catty smile twitched the corners of his lips. 'Only 3 or 4?'

He dashed for the door back into the house, leaving Fernando swiping at air.

Kimi was sitting at the kitchen counter drinking a hot cup of coffee. Jaamies was in the bar chair next to him with one arm around Kimi's waist, picking at what was left of his breakfast. Rabbit was standing at the other end of the counter. He wasn't supposed to drink coffee, but at some point Mark had let him start and had never stopped him. Sunny was already gone for training with Sebastian. The three looked up at the sound of feet.

Alondra pounded down the hall at a dead run, barber's cape flapping behind him. He raced passed the kitchen door, skidded to a halt at the back door and fumbled to unlock it.

Fernando thudded down the hall after him.

Alondra ducked around Fernando and ran back up the hall, towards the front door, laughing maniacally.

Fernando ran back up the hallway a few steps later, laughing just as hard.

  
Rabbit took a drink of his coffee. Jaamies patted Kimi on a lovehandle and got up to scrape his leftovers and put his dish in the dishwasher. Kimi listened to the game of tag proceed around the side of the house for another moment, then went back to drinking his coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should Fernando have let Alondra keep the dream of building his own car? Would it help?


	2. What We Do To Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tonsorial  
> Alternate Universe- Tame Racing Drivers  
> Part 6- Tonsorial  
> Fandom- Formula 1
> 
> In an AU where a secret species is used as Racing Drivers, even Racing Drivers can’t be all fast and furious all the time, sometimes they and their matches have to do everyday things.  
> Racing Drivers have to match their human partners and vice versa.
> 
> Tags: Niki Lauda, Kimi Raikkonen (Sebastian Vettel), Alternate Universe, Slavery

**2015**

 

After the Nurburgring the number two question matches he'd just met asked when he'd walked away, right after "Is he always such a pretentious asshole?" (Though depending on the quality of the man, some said this to his face) was "Was he driving the day it happened?"

  
That question had never been asked to his face. He knew they asked it, even so.

  
Matches didn't drive. Racing Drivers were altered to their matches, not the other way around. Of those two laws of nature, it was easiest to believe an exception had been made to the first.

  
Because to have endured the second would be unthinkable. Even to save your Driver, even to win.

  
Niki had never met a match that didn't have a special relationship with his Driver. Some of them didn't acknowledge what they knew about their partners. A few didn't even acknowledge it to themselves, though those careers never progressed very far. Each of them was a special little snowflake. Just like all the others.

  
He watched the Drivers come and go from the Ferrari team. Strong bonds and weak bonds. Every one with the will to succeed. Ferrari didn't buy Racing Drivers, they bought bond pairs. The man was as important in their considerations as the Driver.

  
Granted, some purchases gave more back than others. Some were a lot more work than others. Schumacher and his damned insistence on sharing the drive was a walk in the park compared to that damned Raikkonen kid and his constant low grade show of defiance.

  
Niki smiled.

  
Grad was leaned back in a plastic chair, legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankle, with his hat brim pulled over his eyes. He murmured his appreciation.

  
Alonso's Driver had been deadly smart, Massa's had been as patient as a stone, Barrichello's had been passionate.

  
Their matches had been motivated to do what it took to win.

  
On the track and off.

  
He watched the two red cars fight for position on the track. He watched the two men in the two garages, eyes fixed on the monitors as though their lives depended on continued concentration.

  
The activity in the garages was going on around them, as though they were other and separate. They barely moved, barely showed any signs of life. Indistinguishable from the other men in the pit unless you knew what to look for.

  
They seemed like they happened to be standing in spots that were out of the way, but when you watched the traffic around them, the pattern became evident as it wove it's way around them. Each garage was centred on the man leaning inconspicuously against the wall. Each revolving around him like a solar system around it's star.

  
With a little facial twitch, but not much else, the man on the left turned his head a tiny bit, eyes never moving from the screen. There was a lag between when this happened and when his mouth began to speak, "I can smell his tires starting to go. I'm going to have him next lap."

  
A moment later the man on the right took a slow breath and said, in a voice that sounded like it was being transmitted rather than spoken, "I've got serious deg in the tires, now."

  
The cars on the track continued on at full speed, but after each of the corners, the second place car was a little closer. Niki watched impassively.

  
Grad tapped his fingers on the chair and looked up at Niki. He made a lugging noise.

  
Niki gestured absently, with the fluency of forty years, [We'll go after they come in.]

  
Grad dropped another gear and lugged even more. He pushed himself out of his chair with a grunt. Not as much of a grunt as a human would have, but an old man's grunt nonetheless.

  
In the garages the man on the left, with the lion's share of his attention still on the race, wadded up a piece of paper. Without glancing sideways, he tossed the paper ball through the garage.

It sailed neatly through the garages, on a direct route to the other man fixated on the race. The projectile was aimed right at his face. With fast hands and infinite precision, the second man batted the ball off it's course as it came within arm's reach.

  
The ball bounced off the edge of a toolbox and rebounded into his face. He blinked. His body seemed to swell with renewed life force and he turned and looked into the other garage. The fluffy blond was still focused on the race, but one hand raised slowly with the forefinger extended.

  
Raikkonen laughed and turned back to the race. Iceman had been passed, but was chasing Sunshine down with fierce determination. Kimi's face blanked again as he rejoined his Driver. His hand worked around a wadded up ball of paper.

  
Niki patted Grad on the arm.

  
[Alright, we'll go, now.]

  
Some were prepared to do whatever it took. As foremost among these, Niki could spot the signs in others. If it came down to a choice like Niki had made, Vettel would be just as ready to give his all.

 

**2011**

Niki had been a Trainer for decades. He didn't coddle and, in a field like F1, a lot of the bond pairs responded well to his attitude. They got used to everyone pussy footing around them, deferring to them, and treating whatever bullshit they spouted as sage truth and gospel. Most of them longed to be off the pedestal. It was enough pressure trying to take care of a Racing Driver without having to be the lord and savior as well.

And a chip on your shoulder didn't make your Driver better, it made him defensive. Confidence comes from within, from a realistic understanding of what you can do and what to do next. Drivers knew who was who, and it just broke them down when the matches tried to insist that instead of doing their best, they take down, usually the Driver of whichever match they didn't get along with, or were jealous of, or angry at.

Stupid waste of time and energy.

Niki walked into the house, with Grad a step behind him, just that little bit bouncier. Grad was holding onto the back of Niki's coat like a baby elephant holding it's mother's tail. Niki had gone almost everywhere for the last 40 years either towing his Racing Driver or missing towing his Racing Driver.

Grad's hand slipped and he made a winding down noise as His hand fell away from Niki's coat.

Niki turned around.

Grad was staring at his hand. Flattening it and curling it. The muscles were not really responding. He made an annoyed noise and shook it.

Niki reached out and picked his hand up, he pressed on the fingers, sending to Grad that he should push back.

The return pressure was weak.

Niki pushed up the sleeve of his jacket and ran a finger up his wrist. He frowned.

'Is this new?'

Grad shook his head, he'd been having weakness, it just hadn't lasted more than a few seconds.

'For how long?'

Grad thought. He'd dropped a glass and reached out to catch it, but hadn't been able to close his hand around it, and just knocked it's trajectory to the side. That was the first time he noticed it. That was 3 seasons ago.

Niki frowned. "Go upstairs, grab some of that menthol rub, we'll see if we can get that taken care of."

He sent a placid concern over their bond, keeping the dropping fear feeling to himself. He turned on his phone and looked at the contact list.

He could probably call Hakkinen. He should really call Constalioga.

Mika was a good man. He would be able to make things appear in a positive light. He would be able to do a checkup on Grad and give Niki the news in a kind, gentle manner that wouldn't be too upsetting for him or Grad.

This must be why they said doctors made the worst patients. Niki didn't want a second opinion. He had been a Trainer for 40 years, he knew exactly what his partner's prognosis was. He didn't want someone to cuddle him and make it hurt less. He didn't want all the things Trainers were trained to do in these situations.

The last time, when he'd been waiting for the scars to heal, he'd banned Constalioga from his room. He had accepted the scaring to match Grad's burns, he wasn't suffering any guilt. It was what he had chosen, to keep Grad winning.

He regretted, really regretted, for the first time since the inevitable had happened, that he couldn't call Michael. He hadn't let himself feel sorry about Micahel, not ever, because years and years of that would break a man down and grind him into mush. There had been too many of them. He couldn't walk for burden of conscience of he let himself carry pieces of all those souls.

"What is wrong, Niki?" Raikkonen asked when Niki called.

"He is losing fine muscle control. He has been getting worse for the last 3 years."

There was silence on the other end of the line for awhile. "You know what it is or you would not call me."

Niki wound up to tell him where he could go.

"I will be there in 4 hours."

They both hung up.

Grad came down the stairs. He had the jar of menthol rub tucked into the crook of his left arm. He looked at Niki and grimaced and shook his right hand.

[Still not working right?] Niki gestured.

Grad just pursed his lips to one side and shook his head a little.

[Come sit down,] He patted a stool in the middle of the kitchen. He had turned on Pandora. Streaming music was a great innovation. Grad loved music, anything with a one-two beat. He had his own series of the newest iPods, from the time the first commercial had run on their television. [Take your shirt off.]

Grad peeled his shirt off and sat on the stool. He held his hand up to Niki, he was moving the arm from the shoulder, now.

Niki supported Grad's arm and ran two fingers up the tendon in his forearm. Niki had his tongue pressed against the left side of his mouth as he concentrated, willing his fingers to feel something other than what he expected. They didn't. The tendon was loose under the skin. He ran his fingers up the muscles in the Racing Driver's forearm. They felt alright. He followed Grad's muscles up his bicep. His shoulder and where the muscles ran across his back all felt fine, it was just the tendon from forearm to elbow that was loose.

Grad was watching this intently. He had always been fascinated by the biological aspect of their Training, but since his talents ran towards teaching, rather than healing, the companies hadn't bothered to give them much beyond the basic medical training, which did not include basic physiology lessons for Drivers. Grad knew what blood and tendons and organs were, which was more than most Drivers ever learned, even most Trainer Drivers, who didn't have medical specialties.

Niki knew what he was seeing because he had seen it so many times before. He'd had the medical terms explained to him, but he didn't really understand them, his talents didn't run to the medical, either, they ran towards analyzing, towards figuring out how to impliment what Grad told him into aerodynamics and car setup. He couldn't have explained why, to anyone, let alone Grad, his nerves were no longer sending messages to his hand. He knew, because he'd been told that it was progressive, he believed it because he'd seen it happen before, but couldn't have explained how it was happening.

He held Grad's arm in his left hand and scooped some of the menthol rub out of the jar with his right. He started at Grad's fingers, massaging the rub into his hand and arm, watching the waves of goosepimples travel up his skin as the stimulating medication relaxed his muscles and increased oxygyn supply, making the skin feel cold, and then hot. He worked the medication into his Racing Driver's shoulder and back, and then did the other arm and his chest for good measure.

He had turned up the heat in the house, so Grad would be warm enough until the rub was absorbed into his skin and he could put his shirt back on. He turned to go to make lunch. He smiled when he felt Grad's hand take hold of the back of his shirt. He didn't mind the greasy smear it would leave behind, he was just glad the hand was working again. For now.

They had lunch. They worked on the motorcycle in the garage.

A little under 4 hours after the phone call, he heard the car outside. Raikkonen knocked on the garage door.

Niki called him in the side door.

Grad looked up when Raikkonen appeared in the doorway. Niki could read his expressions without even feeling his emotions.

Oh, Raikkonen is here. Why? This can't be good. This has to be about me. Oh no.

The Racing Driver had the fingers of one hand pinched in the fingers of the other hand. He turned away from the door and looked at Niki.

'Oh, no. I'm not done, Niki, not ready.'

There was no pretense. He didn't look away or try to choke back the tears that sprang into his eyes.

Raikkonen made a noise in his throat, a reasonable engine imitation, for a human.

Grad turned at the sound.

Raikkonen stepped into the garage and gestured a greeting. His gestures were incredibly fluent, but rhythmic, like watching a metronome, [I came to visit you two,] He told Grad. [I don't think there's anything for you to get worried about.] He shook his head. [We'll see what's going on and then we'll make a plan. It's not important right now, though. What kind of motorcycle are you building?]

Grad washed his hands over each other, and looked over his shoulder at Niki. He seemed calmer than he had when he'd realized what Raikkonen must be here for. His breathing was calming by the moment.

Niki nodded at him. [Go ahead, tell him about your motorcycle.]

Grad turned back to Raikkonen. [It is blue. Fast, good corners. It is from the season after we went back to Ferrari to Train. It is a-] he made the signature Ducati engine noise.

"Ducati," Niki murmured. Not everyone knew motorcycles purely by the sound of their engines.

Raikkonen looked up at him for a moment, eyes unreadable, then back to Grad. [This is the 916?] It took him awhile to gesture the numbers. Racing Drivers didn't really have an easy system for expressing numbers. He stepped forward and stooped to examine the engine.

Grad crouched beside him and started pointing out his favorite features.

Raikkonen raised his eyes to Niki, standing on the other side of the bike, and nodded to him. Then he went back to listening closely to Grad's excited explanation. A smile spread over his face when he watched the delight on the Racing Driver's face. When the introduction was finished, he gestured, [Let's go inside for awhile, looks like your human is getting tired. He's not as young as we are.]

They stood up more easily, Niki had to admit, than he would have been able to if he'd been crouched beside the bike.

Raikkonen followed Niki and Grad into the house and noticed immediately the stool in the center of the kitchen with the jar of salve on the counter beside it. [Grad, fast work with the motorcycle,] he gestured. [Do you still ride motorcycles?]

[Thanks. Yes, I still ride sometimes.]

Raikkonen was watching his gestures carefully. Niki realized he was asking questions that would require the Racing Driver to gesture with his right hand, and was watching the slurring that was happening, because Grad's hand was still not responding like it should.

[Jaamies and I learned a new game from our American teammates. Do you want to play? Come here, Niki.] He had Niki and Grad face each other. [You can only play with your match, because you can't look, ok?] They nodded. [Hold your hands up. This game is called Mirror. Now, Niki, you're going to close your eyes and see if you can do with your hands what Grad is doing with his. I'll watch, and when you miss, you switch turns. Go.]

Niki closed his eyes and felt how Grad was moving his hands. There was a definite lag in the right hand. Grad moved his hands up, then down, then made V fingers tapped his palms together. Niki laughed when his Driver used the bad word, and copied him. Grad laughed and gestured a series of random words at increasing speed until Niki couldn't keep up reading the feelings and translating them into motions.

Raikkonen tapped Niki's shoulder and he opened his eyes. [Now Grad will close his eyes and copy Niki.] When Grad closed his eyes, Raikkonen gestured to Niki, [Do this.] He touched the thumbs of his hands to each of his fingertips.

Niki copied him and Grad copied Niki, with a great deal more effort on the right hand side.  
Raikkonen flattened and extended his fingers, reaching forward and tilting his hand as far in either direction as it would go.

Grad's right hand didn't bend nearly as far as his left, and neither of them had the same range as Niki's. Niki was impressed. This was a really good way to find out what Grad could do without Grad noticing they were examining him.

  
Raikkonen made a fist and curled his arm like lifting weights.

Grad's hand didn't make a fist. His fingers were barely touching his palm. He couldn't bring his fist within 6 inches of his shoulder. His left hand wasn't a tight fist, but the arm came close to flexing properly.

Raikkonen and Niki both watched all of this closely. After the flexing, Raikkonen nodded, and Niki did a couple funny motions, like making Grad pick his own nose, and signing a love poem to Raikkonen. Then he did faster and faster motions, until Grad missed one. Niki clapped him on the shoulder and the game ended.

That night after Niki had taken Grad up to his sleeping cupboard, he came back downstairs and sat on the couch, watching Raikkonen for some indication of what the other man thought.

"He is not so bad. I thought worse, when you called me. He doesn't know, that's bad. When he wasn't matching your movements, he was not able to tell he wasn't doing the same, you saw that?"

Niki nodded.

"He is not just losing control, he is losing sensation." He scratched his arm. "You need a job."

"What kind of job?"

"You've got 3 years, maybe a little more, if he drives. If you keep him moving, keep him loose, keep him using it, and keep him interested. You could start consulting again."

"Ferrari fired us." Niki snorted. "Who would want us?"

Raikkonen fixed him with an openly disbelieving look, which on the Iceman was saying something. "I didn't realize you forgot how to set up a car. Yes, after being fired you are surely no longer three times world champions. There can be nothing young racers can learn from you." He rolled his eyes so hard even a non-Finn could see the expression. "I think I know someone you can talk to." He started swiping through his phone.

Niki's phone buzzed. Raikkonen has shared a contact- Susie Wolff. The screen read.

"When you take Grad to meet Susie, have him talk to Gazelle about weight ratios. She's got...opinions," Raikkonen said, with the air of a man who had listened to the same rant once too often. He looked at his phone screen. "My flight leaves soon. When you need me to come, I will. Until then." He looked towards the stairwell and shook his head. "Don't let grief cloud the time you have left with him. Don't."

He shook Niki's hand and Niki saw him to the door. He watched him get into the toyota corolla rental car and pull out of the driveway.

The next time he saw Raikkonen, they were both back in F1. Niki consulting for Mercedes, and Raikkonen working for Lotus. They nodded to each other in passing, but didn't stop for greetings. Neither of them were interested in small talk, like Racing Drivers, they both knew perfectly where they stood, knew that someday soon Raikkonen would get a phone call and would share the worst day of Niki's life, and everything else would go unsaid between them. Nothing else would ever need to be said.

Raikkonen wasn't like Vettel, he wouldn't make a choice like Niki made to keep winning. Instead he made choices like flying across europe and using the day to help Niki come to terms with losing his other self, instead of flying to the US in time to get any sleep the day before his debut NASCAR race.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What will the next months be like, facing down the inevitable?


	3. The Differences Between Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tonsorial  
> Alternate Universe- Tame Racing Drivers  
> Part 6- Tonsorial  
> Fandom- Formula 1
> 
> In an AU where a secret species is used as Racing Drivers, even Racing Drivers can’t be all fast and furious all the time, sometimes they and their matches have to do everyday things.  
> Racing Drivers have to match their human partners. That doesn’t mean they are the same.
> 
>  
> 
> Tags: Sebastian Vettel, Corinna Schumacher, (Michael Schumacher), Alternate Universe, Slavery

_He couldn’t make eye contact with his reflection.  He was bone weary.  He hadn’t been this tired since he’d started really training for F1.  He was slumped over the sink in the bathroom.  This whole day couldn’t be happening._

_Kimi’s, the van ride, and even the drive through northern Europe, they all seemed unreal, like dreams.  Like he’d seen them in a movie.  The history of the world started when he pulled into Michael’s driveway.  His hands tightened on the edge of the sink._

Sebastian leaned on the steering wheel and looked up at the house.  He’d parked behind some shrubs, so the occupants of the car weren’t immediately visible from the house.  There would be security cameras, but he couldn’t deal with that.  He looked at Sunshine, sitting in the passenger seat.  He’d wanted to drive.  Seb hadn’t let him.  He didn’t know any of the traffic laws.  Kimi had told him a harrowing story about trying to teach Jaamies to drive on the road, and he’d never again been inclined to let Sunshine drive in traffic.

He sent pictures of himself going inside and Sunny waiting until Seb came back out to get him.  He would talk his way around the FIA agents in the house, and bring everyone back out.  If there was shooting, Sunshine should sneak around the back.

Sunshine looked at him like he’d suggested they should try ice racing in the F1 car. Sebastian was going to stay in the car.  Sunshine could enforce the fact, but he would prefer it if Sebastian didn’t make him enforce it.

Sebastian sat back.  Sunshine couldn’t go in there alone, they’d notice immediately that he couldn’t speak.

He felt the warm fulfillment of complete assurance.

Sunshine got out of the car, put his hands in the pouch of his red hoodie, and walked with urgency towards the house.

Sebastian felt a cold shock when Sunshine shut him out of his mind.  He nearly went in after him.  The assurance was still flooding his emotions, though.  His grip tightened on the steering wheel when he heard gunfire.  There were two bursts, then a pause, and another.

The front door opened.  He expected the figure to come out running, but Sunshine strolled halfway down the lawn, hands in the pouch of his red hoodie, and then opened their connection again, feeling only very mild annoyance.  He waved for Sebastian to come in.

Sebastian pulled the car closer.

_Cool water dripped off his face, rippling the pool in the sink. There were clumps of blonde curls stuck along the edges. Sebastian scrubbed his hands over his freshly shaved cheeks._

There were two men laying on one side of the hallway.  They were dressed as healthcare workers.  Corinna and Mick were standing over them, mouths drawn and eyes wide.

“Corinna!” Sebastian said.  His eyes kept sliding off the men on the floor.

“Sebastian?  What is going on?!”

Sunshine came through the door behind him and Corinna and Mick each tried to step in front of the other.

Corinna looked back and forth between them, the Racing Driver in the red hoodie and the young man in the white t-shirt.  Light dawned in her eyes.

“Oh my god,” Mick said.  “You’re like dad.”

Sunshine headed straight for the door behind them.  Corinna gasped and reached out when he went in.  “Sebastian, he can’t.”

Sebastian put his hand on her arm and then followed Sunshine into the room.

The three humans stood just inside the doorway.

It was the first time Sebastian had seen him in a long time.  He hadn’t been able to communicate with him, then, without Sunny.  He could communicate somewhat, now, according to the little Seb knew. He was sitting up in the bed. He looked physically more stable, but there was a little wildness in the brown eyes that were locked on Sunshine.

Sunshine flowed right onto the bed, knee walking up the foot and in a single smooth motion, reaching out and cupping his hand behind Shoe’s neck.

Corinna let out a little squeak.

With perfect grace and strength, Sunshine pulled Shoe up to meet him. His forward motion halted only when their foreheads touched.

The edge of what they were sharing was all it took to make Sebastian cover his mouth and tears to come to his eyes.  He could not feel what passed between them, but he could feel what it did to Sunshine’s heart.  He snaked his hand out and grasped Corinna’s.

Then Sunshine let through a trickle of the emotional tide running between them.  Sebastian started talking without being aware of it.  Even the tiny bit he was getting was such a wild rush, he had to make sense of it before he could turn it into words.

“He loves you so much,” Sebastian whispered.  “Sunshine can’t even let me see all of it, but it hurts me, he loves you so much.”  He squeezed her hand.  With his other hand, he flailed towards Mick.  It took the boy a moment to realize and then he took the man’s hand.  “He wanted so much to thank you and to show you. He’s wanted so long.  He says he wants to say it back every time you say ‘I love you.’”

“I don’t just mean it for Michael, not anymore,” Corinna said to Sebastian.  She was weeping openly, now.

Mick took a step towards the bed, but Sebastian kept ahold of his hand.

“He knows. He says he is sorry, and he…”  Sebastian put his face down and shook for a moment. “He would trade.”  A whine tore itself from his throat and Sunshine reduced the intensity of the connection again.

Corinna squeezed Sebastian's hand.  "Tell him I know what Jeremy offered him.  Tell him I know he's doing this because he loves us, even though he doesn't have to."  Sebastian hadn't known about what Jeremy had offered before, but the knowledge came through his bond with Sunshine.  He swallowed.  That might, at least explain why Clarkson hadn't sent anyone.

"He can understand you, Corinna.  He knows everything you say to him, everything you talk to him about."  Sebastian blushed at feeling the edge of some of what Corinna had shared with Shoe.

She looked down and smiled.  "I hoped you could."  She, too started towards the bed, but Sebastian gently pulled her back as well.

"You can't go over there.  In fact, we shouldn't even be in the room.  Come on, Sunshine is going to help him."

They both looked at him.

He kept ahold of their hands and led them out of the room.

"He's going to help him?  Sunshine?  Your...friend's name is Sunshine?"

And that was the first time he realised that she had been living with him for years and had no idea what he was.

"Where is your computer?"

_Sebastian picked up the clippers on the edge of the sink.  Sunshine was sitting on a kitchen chair in the garage, with a towel around his bare shoulders.  He looked up at Seb and leaned his head back, exposing his throat. Sebastian ran his fingers through his Racing Driver's beautiful curls, fluffing them one last time. The blond curls were their best feature. He cupped his hand behind Sunshine's neck and began shaving them off._

Mick and Corinna were sitting in shocked silence when the Grand Tour came to a close.

They looked up at Sebastian.

Mick shook his head and looked back at the now still computer screen.

Corinna looked down the hall towards Shoe's room.

All this time, she had only had the barest idea of what was going on.  Only known that it wasn't always Michael driving the car.  Never...anything like this.

Mick stood up.  "Gina knew it had to be something like this.  Come on, mom.  This explains everything. If Gina was here, she'd believe."

Sunshine called to Sebastian, 'Bring the people in here.'

Sebastian stopped on the way to Sunshine.  Outside Shoe's room there were two men lying on the floor.  Seb stared down at them. They were dressed in scrubs.  Sunshine called again and he went into the room.

Shoe seemed stronger.  Sunshine looked at Seb, and passed him the information.

Sebastian opened his mouth and closed his mouth.  Then said, "You want to be able to talk to him?"

Corinna nodded.

He started to leave them with some privacy.  "Go look in his eyes until he looks away. We're all leaving.  You'll need to change your appearances."  He leaned back into the room.  "Have you got some clippers?"

He brushed the remains of Sunshine's hair off onto the floor.  "Jaamies taught you what he did to Kimi." 

Sunshine smiled up at Seb. [Now they can talk, even though they aren't bonded to him, it will be better this way.]

Sebastian ran his fingers over the minute fuzz on Sunshine's head and then through the matching fuzz on his own.

The door opened and Mick stepped in. He looked at them silently, then took his shirt off, wrapped a towel from the laundry pile around his shoulders and took Sunshine's place on the chair.

Sebastian didn't think there was maybe as much chance of someone recognizing Mick, but obliged him in his show of solidarity. The boy watched, flat faced as his hair fell to the floor around him.

Sunshine ran a hand over Mick's bare scalp and revved.  Mick couldn't hear the approving sending, but Seb watched his Racing Driver touch a human other than himself or Kimi, and knew it was a meaningful moment.

"He says you look brave.  Where is your mother, she is not going to be showing up in here wanting her head shaved, too, is she?"

"No, she's upstairs dying her hair."

Sebastian looked over Mick's head at Sunshine, sending to the Driver, but speaking to the boy, "I will need your help with Shoe.  He won't like me touching him."

Mick nodded.

They stood around the bed and Sunshine explained to Shoe what they were doing.  Sunshine got on the bed next to him and put the towel around his shoulders.  Sebastian handed Mick the clippers. 

Mick's mouth gave a one sided grin around pursed lips and he sat on the bed and gently shaved Shoe's hair.  When the last of it was gone, he carefully gathered up the towel and took it away.

Sebastian and Sunshine cleared away the bedding and Sunshine passed his arms under the Racing Driver and took Sebastian's hands so they could lift him out of the bed.

Mick shook his head and pushed at Sebastian.  Sebastian let go of his partner's hands and looked at the boy.  Mick moved him out of the way.  "Let me carry my father," he said, not looking at Sebastian.  He looked at Sunny instead, took his hands and nodded.  Sunny nodded back and looked at Sebastian.

"Good."  Seb gave one sharp nod of his head and stood out of the young man's way.

The two lifted Shoe out of the bed and carried him as though he was in a chair and set him in the wheelchair that was waiting beside the bed.  Sebastian watched the two.  He wondered if Sunshine knew who they were to one another, as he stood with his hand on the shoulder of the nearest thing he had to a human brother.  Shoe's legacy and Michael's legacy.

Corinna came into the room and froze.  She stared at the two young men with one half of their father's soul between them.  It was obvious, when you saw them together.  Sebastian had never looked as much like his Racing Driver as most of the matches did, Sunshine looked very much like Shoe, and Seb didn't.  She looked at him and he smiled wanly.

"Racing Drivers have children too, Corinna," he murmured.  He looked at her again.  Her hair was blue.  Light blue, and the blonde visible beneath, but blue, nonetheless.  "When he said you were dying your hair..."

"This was leftover from Gina's rebellious phase.  It suits me, don't you think?"  It did suit her.  It was a very flattering color, but it made her look not at all like herself, which meant it would also be very effective camouflage.

She looked at Shoe and screwed up her eyes, concentrating hard.  She put her hands to her temples like the psychics in movies.  Shoes eyes widened.  "Oh! I am being too loud?  I'm sorry."  She looked at Sebastian.  "I've never done this before."

Sebastian laughed and put her hands down.  "If you think it as if you are planning to say it, he can hear you.  You can feel the place he is in your mind?  Just talk to that.  Unless he is far away, he will hear you."

A blush bloomed on her face.  "Did you hear him say that?"

Sebastian shook his head.  "I can only hear Sunny."  He paused.  "You cannot here Sunny, can you?"

Cortina thought about it.  "No, just...Shoe."  She smiled at the Racing Driver.

Sunshine made a surprised noise.  He sent that Mick had asked Shoe to tell him to tell Seb that this was way better than secret codes.

The young man was smirking.  He made very much the same self satisfied face as Michael had.  "You'll get the hang of it, mom, just think how great it'll be to get to hear him talk."

Sunshine's eyes flew to Sebastian's.  They didn't have to hear the boy's mind to hear the "again" hanging in the air behind that statement.  Sebastian gathered himself to say something, but Shoe's cleared his throat.  He looked up at the boy.  Mick's hand tightened on Shoe's shoulder as he listened. They stared at each other for a moment, Mick's face flickering through emotions.

It was Corinna's turn to take Sebastian and Sunny out of the room.

Sebastian stopped outside the door.  There were two men in healthcare worker scrubs lying on the floor.  He took a step towards them to check on them, but Sunshine called to him, and he turned around.

"Yeah, Sunny?"  He smiled.

Hadn't they better get out of here?

He nodded.  He turned to Corinna, who was looking at him with the muscles under her eyes scrunched up.  "We will take the transit van when we leave. It has the most space. We will be on the road until we find a safe place to stay, so we’ll need food and supplies. Blankets? You and Mick should pack bags. I don’t know…what he will need?” He glanced at the closed door to Shoe’s room. “Just think about the longest camping trip.”

Corinna was staring at the floor behind him, answered him absently, “Yes, we have things we can take.”

Mick came out of the room, pushing the wheelchair. He followed his mother’s gaze. Sebastian turned around to see what everyone was looking at. There were two men on the floor. They looked like medical workers. Someone should check they were alright.

Sunshine called him.

He turned back around, smiling. “Yeah, Sunny?”

Mick looked at his mother and tilted his head. Shoe’s eyes went to Sunshine.

[We need clothes, we didn’t get bags when the men took us away from Kimi’s house.] Sunny gestured.

“Sunny and I will need to borrow some clothes. We didn’t have a chance to pack before we left.

[We should find fuel in the kitchen,] Sunny gestured.

Seb nodded. “You two go get your camping stuff, we will go look for food in the kitchen, that should give us something we can do.” He reached for the wheelchair, and Mick’s grip on it tightened, until Sunny moved to take it. Then he stepped back willingly.

As they walked to the kitchen and Corinna and Mick headed upstairs, Mick said quietly to his mother, “Did he just do what I think he just did?”

Sebastian was vaguely aware that Sunny and Shoe were having some sort of intense discussion while he pulled canned goods out of cupboards and dried goods out of the pantry.

He gestured to Shoe, [Please ask Corinna to see if she can find some plastic bins or something to put this stuff in.]

He set the food on the kitchen counter. Then he went through and found some dishes and put them with the pile as well.

He looked at the pile. He remembered Hanna always adding towels and napkins and garbage bags to the supplies when they’d gone camping. He searched through cupboards until he found these things and added them to the pile as well. On his own, he thought of dish soap and spices.

Mick came into the kitchen with plastic tubs, he patted Shoe on the shoulder as he went by, and helped Seb pack the food into the tubs. Then he went to carry the camping supplies down from the attic.

Seb heard some low voice in the hallway, and then the sound of something heavy being dragged along the floor, towards the back of the house, but Mick didn't bring anything else into the kitchen for awhile.

Seb carried everything out to the van and tucked it along one side in the back. When he finished packing the food, Mick had a stack of camping equipment sitting in the center of the kitchen floor. Sebastian carried that out to the van as well. Sunshine stayed with Shoe, the two Racing Drivers in close contact and Sunshine gesturing in the slow, careful gestures he’d learned from years of close contact with Jaamies.

Corinna appeared with the last of the equipment and they went out of the house and packed the last supplies in the van. She handed the boys sunglasses and hats. She knelt in front of Shoe and put the soft, hand knit cap on his shaved head and put the big sunglasses on him, kissing him as naturally as anything. Then she paused, face close to his and looking into his eyes. A big smile spread across her face.

Sebastian watched in the reflection on the door mirror. He wondered when she’d stopped kissing him as Michael and started kissing him as himself. He could communicate a little, and she’d known the whole time that he was not who they were pretending he was. How long since she’d fallen in love with the other half of her husband’s soul? Sebastian squeezed Sunshine’s hand, only then becoming aware he was holding it.

Sunny and Mick lifted Shoe into the back seat of the van and Mick showed Sunny how to make sure he was stable and comfortable. “This is easier when he can tell you what’s going on. When I was little, we just had to work it out for ourselves.” A tiny cloud scudded across the mood when he said this, but it dissipated quickly. “Can I drive, Sebastian?”

Sebastian snorted and put his sunglasses on. Then he stopped and thought. He turned to the young man, appraised him, and nodded. “Let’s see if you’re as good a driver as your father.”

Mick looked at Shoe.

“Either of them.” Seb gestured towards the driver’s seat. “Did anyone ever tell you your father was the best human to ever drive in F1? Let me tell you, I’ve seen a lot of driving in my life, usually from right up close in the pit lane, but your father, there was no one like him.”

Mick slipped into the driver’s seat. “Yeah? On the Grand Tour they said men don’t drive.”

“Well, that’s because they aren’t fast enough. All except one.”

He looked back over his shoulder from his place in the passenger seat and smiled at Shoe. Shoe smiled back, grateful that Sebastian saw what Mick needed to hear, to remember that the man in his life hadn’t always been the OTHER half of his father’s soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where does one begin and the other end? Where is the line?


	4. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 6- TONS  
> Fandom- Formula 1
> 
> In an AU where a secret species is used as Racing Drivers, even Racing Drivers can’t be all fast and furious all the time, sometimes they and their matches have to do everyday things.  
> Racing Drivers have to match their human partners, and in a lot of ways, they have to match the other Racing Drivers.
> 
> Tags: Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, AU Tame Racing Drivers, Alternate Universe, Slavery

**Tonsorial 4**

**Independent Trainer Stabling Facility #423-  2013**

  
  


It was a surreal experience for Dan, sitting in Kimi Raikkonen's dining room having coffee (and juice) with their Racing Drivers beside them. Kimi had brought him coffee, been an impeccable host, and offered Oz as many muffins as he liked. They were low calorie bran muffins so they wouldn't throw Oz's diet off. Kimi asked him a couple questions, but mostly just watched Oz and Dan interact. When they'd been assigned to have a consult with Kimi, Dan had expected to meet at the stable. Anytime they'd talked to Kimi in his capacity as a Trainer, it had been either at the stable or onsite at a track. But here they were, guests in his home, having a snack and talking about fear of touch. It was like the most expensive therapist's visit ever.   
  
[Things seem like they're getting easier for you,] Kimi signed. He signed whenever he was speaking when Racing Drivers were present. Sometimes it was subtle, but it was a comforting thing for Dan to see. [When you come back next time, we'll see how the plan is going, and we'll change it if we need to.]   
  
They all stood up. Jaamies started picking up plates and cups and took Oz with him out of the room. Dan realized this for a tactic. Kimi was watching him.   
  
"You can stay. They will get Oz tomorrow."   
  
Partway through their interview, Dan had become aware of quiet engine noises in the kitchen. When he and Kimi walked into the kitchen they were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of Racing Drivers. Oz and Jaamies, washing the dishes, Oz casting awed glances over his shoulder at the older Racers standing around gesturing and laughing. Sebastian's Driver, Fernando's Driver, and..two of Mark's Driver.   
  
It took Dan a moment to realize that the one was dressed in civilian clothing, but all in navy blue. The Racer, then.

 

The Racing Drivers who’d been taken out of their stables to live here, in rooms upstairs and the highly structured environment, like a live in therapy program for some of the most damaged Racers.  Fernando and Mark must have been on a scheduled weekly visit to their partners.  Of course Sebastian wouldn’t be here at the same time, he and Mark’s constant rivalry were the reason Sunshine and Rabbit needed to be away from the team during down time.     
  
Oz hurried over, to Dan, wiping his hands on the dish towel.   
  
He took Dan's hands in his slightly damp hands, and pulled him over. [Dan, I want you to meet these Racers. You know Sunshine. He is my stable's biggest champion. This is Rabbit.]   
  
'Rabbit is the oldest colt in my bloodline,' Oz added, privately.   
  
Dan greeted both stallions. He caught Mark's eye. Mark smiled.   
  
Another man walked into the kitchen, Fernando. He introduced himself to Dan, as well as his Racing Driver, Alondra.   
  
Kimi, Dan had noticed, along with Jaamies had faded into the background, but was watching everything sharp eyed.   
  
So the stallion at the stable that Oz had always looked up to was Mark Webber's Racer, and his big brother. Well this was a development. Oz was always full of surprises.   
  
Dan watched the older men, wrapped up physically and mentally in their Racers, and he slid his hand into Oz's. There was a little stiffness there, but it soon relaxed into companionable touch.   
  
[We are going to do some care for our Racing Drivers,] Fernando told Dan. [Would you like to join us? I have some extra things you may use.]   
  
[Yeah, mate, you should. It'll be a bit of a squeeze with four of us lanky guys, but we'll all fit.]   
  
Was this okay? Was he imposing? The only one he really knew here, was Kimi. Dan looked at him. He was leaning with one ankle crossed over the other against the kitchen table. He raised a hand. "You go, I live here."   
  
Dan nodded at Fernando. "What..." He started in English, then corrected himself and switched to gestures, [What kind of care?]   
  
[Shaving, haircuts. Barbershop things.]   
  
They all went into the downstairs bathroom, it was quite large, had a big jacuzzi tub on one side, and a walk in shower on the other side, a separate room for the toilet, and a big counter with nice, deep sinks.

 

Dan and Oz crowded to one side of the door and pressed against the wall.

 

Rabbit climbed into the dry bathtub and put his feet up on the rim.  Mark opened the door to the closet and started pulling items out of the shelf with the blue label that said Rabbit.

 

Alondra tapped Fernando on the arm.  [Shaving.] He pointed at the shower.  He started stripping out of his clothes.  Fernando flicked his shirtless belly with the backs of his fingers. [I know you are beautiful, but there are visitors.  Try not to shock Dan, please.]

 

The short Racing Driver looked up at Dan.  [Don't be shocked.]  He disappeared behind the heavily frosted glass of the shower.  A moment later his pants dropped to the floor outside the door.

 

"I  _ have _ been in locker rooms before."

 

[You may use the bench, I will get a  chair,]  Fernando told Dan.  He scooted Dan out of the way and went out the door.

 

"What about you?" Dan asked Mark.

 

[Rabbit likes to sit in the bathtub,]  Mark told him.  He handed Dan two chocolates from a box in the closet, giving him a wink, tossed another to Rabbit, and popped one in his own mouth.

 

They both seemed to speak in gestures at the same time as they spoke in English, as a matter of course.

 

[Thanks,] Dan said.  It was weird to be using sign language to another guy who was from his home country and even spoke English with the same accent.  He handed the chocolate to Oz, who lit up like it was a holiday.  

 

He took a little nibble of the chocolate.

 

[You don't have to save it, mate,] the gesture Mark used here was literally 'friend' but he spoke over his gesture, using the Aussie word, [You can have more.  There's plenty.]  He was kneeling at the side of the bathtub.

 

Oz popped the rest of the chocolate in his mouth and giggled guiltily.

 

Dan grinned.  He had snuck Oz bites of chocolate before, but the handlers had all warned him about how bad chocolate was for Racing Drivers.  As far as he could tell, Oz was just like any other guy, he loved chocolate.

 

Fernando came back and set down a kitchen chair with the side to the sink.  He pointed to an upholstered bench.  [Bring that here. Oz, you will be here.]  He went to the closet and got some toiletries off Alondra's shelf.  [You may use my backup kit.]  He handed Dan a leather shaving bag, and set another next to the chair.

 

[He likes the other one because all the tools match,] Mark said.

 

Dan looked over and realized Mark had wet down Rabbit's hair and was trimming it.  Oh, Barbershop things.

 

The water in the shower turned off.  Alondra pressed his face to the clear glass at the top portion of the shower and tapped on the glass with his fingertips. [I am wet,] He gestured, giving Fernando a stern look.  Fernando handed him a towel around the side of the door.

 

[It is easier to shave him when he is just showered.  His beard is soft,]  Fernando said.  [Oz can go now, Rabbit will be a moment.]

 

"Okay."

 

Oz was watching Dan.

 

[I guess you're showering next.]

 

Oz nodded, stripped down to his pants, as Alondra had and went into the shower to take those off.

 

Dan looked at the pile of clothes in his hand, wondering if he should just set them on the floor.

 

[You can put them in the closet.  There is an empty shelf,] Mark said.

 

The top shelf was labeled Sunshine.  The next shelf down was Rabbit, then Alondra, and the one just above the space full of extra toilet paper and cleaning supplies was empty, red and labeled with the name Mancha.  Felipe Massa's Racing Driver.  Two Redbull Drivers, Two Ferrari Drivers, though Iceman's shelf was probably in Kimi's bathroom, and one ex Ferrari Driver.  This seemed like an advantage that was not available to everyone.  Dan put the clothes on Mancha's shelf.

 

[Have him use the blue tube with the black circle.  It is scrub,] Fernando told Dan.  Alondra was leaning back on the kitchen chair with a big fluffy towel wrapped around his waist.  Fernando leaned over him, applying scented oil to his face.

 

Dan stood there for a moment.  The door was frosted glass.  His gestures wouldn't be visible through it.  He didn't see Fernando and Mark make brief eye contact in the mirror then return their attention to their Racing Drivers.  He could tell Oz in his mind, but how would he explain how Oz had known?

 

[I can ask Alondra to send the image to him, if it helps,]  Fernando said, very neutrally.  He went on making sure his Racing Driver's face was coated in the oil.

 

[Or Rabbit could.]  Mark combed his fingers through Rabbit's hair and trimmed a section of it.

 

They could do it, too?!  Fernando was talking about it, openly!  Talking about the telepathy.  They were both so matter-of-fact about it.

 

'All Racing Drivers talk to their matches.  Not everyone is trustworthy.  Even FIA matches hear their Racing Drivers,' Oz told him.  He sent Dan a picture of a blue flat bottom tube with a black logo on it, in a shower caddy in the shower. 'This is gritty.'

 

Uhhh.  'It's supposed to be gritty, mate.'  Dan was trying to absorb this.  He was standing in Kimi's bathroom with a Redbull star and a Ferrari star...stars, and they KNEW his deepest secret.  Like it was nothing.

 

Because it was their secret, too.

 

He wasn't alone.

 

A smile spread across his face.

 

He and Oz weren't only like each other.  They were like all the matches and Racing Drivers ever.


	5. Aware

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tonsorial  
> Alternate Universe- Tame Racing Drivers  
> Part 6- Tonsorial  
> Fandom- Formula 1
> 
> In an AU where a secret species is used as Racing Drivers, even Racing Drivers can’t be all fast and furious all the time, sometimes they and their matches have to do everyday things.  
> Racing Drivers have to match their human partners, some match better inside than out.
> 
> Tags: Sebastian Vettel

A sense of discomfort pulled Sebastian from sleep. He scrubbed his hands over his scruffy cheeks. He felt a weight on the foot of the bed and he looked up. There was no such thing as a dark room anymore, and the lights from various electronics made Sunshine visible, sitting stock straight on the foot of the bed staring at Sebastian.

"Hey, love," Seb sent and spoke, since it was too dark to see gestures. His mind filled with warm, golden light and he moaned in delight. Sunshine held him still from the inside out.

'Sebastian. Lay still.' He put his hand on Seb's cheek.

The enforced stillness ceased, but he held himself rigid as he'd been told. He watched Sunshine close his eyes.

'I've known you since you were just a little dork who was just so glad to be special for anything.' Then they were standing in the hallway at Michael's house, outside Shoe's room. Corinna, And Mick with Shoe in the wheelchair were standing outside the room, frozen in a moment in time. Sebastian was looking at two men on the floor. One man was tall and deeply tan skinned, with brown hair and blue scrubs. He was wearing walking shoes and a nice watch. The other man was shorter and broader, he had thinning hair and blue eyes. Sunshine was kneeling beside the men, packing them into a box...

No, packing the memory of them into a box. Sunshine set this box on a stack of other boxes and took Sebastian's hand.

'You were never willing to do anything that would risk my anger. You didn't dare.' Same hallway. Memory Sebastian and Mick and Corinna were coming down the stairs. Sebastian looked at them, then down at the same two men lying on the floor. He couldn't remember them being there earlier. Just the empty floor. The man with blue eyes was staring at nothing. The other man was holding a gun. Sebastian looked around and saw the other gun under the side table. Sunshine packed this memory in a box as well and set it on the stack. The floor was clear, now.

Again.

'You never told me 'No,' never stopped me. Not from Rabbit. Not from this, not from anything.' Mick and Corinna were huddled together looking toward the door Sebastian had just come through.

He felt his shock again when he saw the two men lying on the floor, dumped practically one on top of the other. The man had blue eyes. He was staring. His neck was broken, both men's were. There were 3 spent ammunition cartridges on the floor. Sebastian looked to where the gun had landed under the side table. He turned around and looked at the wall beside the front door. There were two bullet holes in the plaster. The third hole was in the ceiling above the door. He turned back to where the men were. Sunshine was standing there, watching him, shoulders back.

[Do you want a hug Sebastian?] Sunshine asked, body language confident, but asking as if he was sure the answer would be no.

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. He walked forward and stopped on the other side of where the men had lain. Where there was now just a closed box. He put his hand out as if for a handshake. [I want you to show me.]

Sunshine reached across where he'd erased the memories of the men's bodies.

Sebastian had relished every time Sunshine had let him into his mind to experience something. _This time he felt the rush of air into his lungs. He ignored the pain everytime he inhaled, like there was something crammed up inside Sunshine's chest and there was enough room until he tried to breathe. He felt the smoothness of the doorknob, the weight of the door. He felt the wood of the door beneath his shoes, the carpet running down the hallway. The man sitting outside the door with immense power behind it. Sunshine smiled and waved, walking briskly but casually._

'You never wanted to see what you never wanted to know.'

_He was halfway across the distance when the man realized he wasn't answering the demanding noises the man was making. He was taller than Sunshine. He pulled a machine out of his belt._

_He was so slow._

_Sunshine had a long time to figure out where it was pointing._

_When the man's finger moved, Sunshine jumped to the side._

_The bullet went past faster than Sunshine could see. A thrill of excitement tinged with fear crackled through him. It was so good. He hadn't felt excitement like that in a long time._

_He ducked and moved back towards the center of the hallway. The second bullet went over his head. He let out a trill of delight at the rush. He pushed the gun to the ceiling. It went off. Then he was standing face to face with the man. He could hear running footsteps from the room behind the man. The man was reacting much to slowly to Sunshine's sudden presence. Sunshine stepped around behind him. Biology lessons had been interesting. He braced the man's torso and twisted him. Some deep part of Sunshine was startled by the snapping noise, and something deeper inside of him, an ancestral thing, stood in the snow drenched in hot blood and howled in triumph. But those were both old things, things that had no bearing on him or his actions._

_He had time to reflect on this as he turned and as the second man wrenched the door open and came through gun first, he wrench the gun free of his grasp and flung it behind him. It slid across the wooden floor and came to rest under a table. He braced this man's body as well. This time, face to face, he saw the moment when the muscles slackened. He dropped the man out of the way and closed the door to the bedroom, with a polite nod._

_He turned. Two humans were standing in the hallway staring at him. A yellow hair mare and young stallion. He looked them up and down. Saw how wide their pupils were blown. How hard they were breathing. Noted the features on the little stallion._

_It was safe to bring Sebastian in here, now. He put his hands in his hoodie pouch and strolled out onto the lawn._

The world went grey and fuzzy and then dark and Seb was opening his eyes in his own body.

Sunshine took his hand off his face.

Sebastian was shaking.

'Don't worry, you won't remember in the morning.'

Sebastian worked his tongue in his mouth, trying to speak.

'You never do.'

He was treated to a series of flashes of himself pinned against walls in team rooms, with Sunshine looming over him, reaching into him and peeling things away.

'Just sleep and forget.'

He leaned close and touched his forehead to the center of Seb's chest. The man felt like the light pressure was keeping him from drawing a full breath. He felt like he was smothering.

'I'm sorry it's like this for us, Sebastian. I'm sorry they brought me to you broken.'

He thought of the pain inside Sunshine. He forced his hand to move. He raised it and settled it over the back of Sunshine's neck. He had strong hands. He ran an air gun for every pitstop Sunshine had ever had. He knelt before his partner's glorious presence and coordinated his strategy with the team, and ran an air gun.

He squeezed the back of Sunshine's neck just enough to make him feel the pressure.

'YOU don't move.' He told him. 'You forget I've known you since YOU were just a little dork who was desperate to accomplish anything. You think <i>I</I> am blinded by your championships?'

Sunshine whimpered.

'Don't do that.' Sebastian sighed. 'Act like I would hurt you. And do NOT act like you would hurt me, we both know better, we could use a dose of acknowledging what we both pretend we don't know. I'll start. I know every centimeter of your self Sunshine. You hid the bodies, but you didn't hide the gun, or the shells or the bullet holes, or the sounds of the gunshots. You knew I could figure out that FIA's agents wouldn't let you have Shoe without a fight. You knew I wouldn't forget there must have been agents there, just because I didn't remember seeing the bodies.'

Sunshine inhaled. He flattened himself against Sebastian. He licked his lips.

'I wouldn't hurt you.' He moved up, despite Sebastian's squeeze on his neck and laid full length against him. 'I would never have to, because why should I? You will never hurt me. You will never resent anything I do. You are desperate for my happiness. You love me even though.'

Sebastian sighed.

Sunshine continued, 'Even though I'm not like the others. Even though in me, the predator is unchained. You have kept me alive even though other men would have put me down themselves rather than let me run.'

Sebastian worked his left arm up between them and grasped Sunshine's right hand.

'I love every part of you.' He kept his right hand on his Racing Driver's neck.

Sunshine was growing soft and pliable against him. 'I'm scared you'll stop.'

'I will never stop loving you,' Sebastian whispered it against Sunshine's ear. 'Believe me. Nothing you are capable of could stop me from being with you completely.'

'There are bad things, Sebastian.' Sunny breathed against him neck. He was shivering.

'I know, baby. We're just going to keep fighting the bad things, and make the best decisions we can.' Sebastian waited until the shivering had stopped and moved his hand off Sunshine's neck to stroke his buzzed hair against the grain. Sunshine shivered in a different way. 'Get under the covers, Sunny. You'll get cold laying in the night air'

Sunny's skin was chill from the exposure.

Sebastian wrapped himself around him. Two of the same body do not fit perfectly together. They meet in all the same spots. It was a contortion to get comfortable against someone built just like you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are they the same? Does forgiving someone make you complicit in their guilt?


	6. Unequivalent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an AU where a secret species is used as Racing Drivers, even Racing Drivers can’t be all fast and furious all the time, sometimes they and their matches have to do everyday things.  
> Racing Drivers have to match their human partners, but some things can never be equivalent.
> 
> Tags: Daniil Kvyat, AU Tame Racing Drivers, Alternate Universe, Slavery

******Tonsorial 7**

 

Tyazhelyy was bigger than Daniil.  He was a year older, and a little taller, and a little more muscular.  The Trainer said Daniil would have about a year to bulk up and match him, but that since they were both probably going to be pretty tall, it wouldn't have to be much.  For now, though, he was bigger.

 

He acted younger, though.  About most things.

 

Like this, his first haircut.

 

Maybe he was just nervous because Daniil was going to be doing it himself.  There had been a course about how, and Daniil had a pretty simple haircut, but it was his first time really cutting anyone's hair.  He wet it down and started combing it, cutting it the right length with the scissors.

 

[Don't get it too short.]  Tyazhelyy gesturing made his head move around.

 

Daniil sent a feeling of disapproval.  'Be careful, please.  I don't want to get it wrong.'

 

Tyazhelyy relaxed and closed his eyes.  

 

Inside his mind, this felt like a happy murmuring in another room, just muffled enough that Daniil couldn't make out the words. As he worked his way to the back of Tyazhelyy's head to his neck, he noticed a dark spot.  Was that marker pen?  

 

It was too dark to be a freckle.

 

He kept cutting, but the closer the got and the closer he looked, the more he realized it was bigger than he'd first thought.  Not just a black speck at the edge of Tyazhelyy's hairline.  It was a mark that went into his hair.

 

Daniil brushed his thumb over the hair to move it out of the way so he could get an idea of what it was.

 

It was a black line.  There was another one next to it, a little thicker, and a thinner one next to that, and more beyond.

 

He leaned closer, to look.  He'd stopped any attempt at cutting hair, now.

 

He combed the hair out of the way, not even conscious that the comb was in his hand.

 

He saw what was hidden on Tyazhelyy's skin, under the hair.

 

His blood ran cold.

 

Tyazhelyy had stiffened.

 

They hung there, frozen for a moment, Tyazhelyy stiff backed in the chair, knuckles white on the armrests, Daniil hunched over looking at his neck.

 

Then Tzayhelyy moved.

 

He slapped his hand over the back of his neck.  He jumped away, out of the chair, across the room, back to the wall, still holding his hand over the back of his neck.

 

'Don't LOOK at it!' He wailed.

 

Daniil put his hand over his mouth.

 

Don't look at the barcode tattooed onto his skin.

 

Behind his right ear, hidden under the hair.

 

It had numbers.

 

It was 2 inches away from being on his FACE.

 

'Okay.  I won't look at it.'  He put his hands up like he was talking Tyazehlyy out of jumping off a roof, or setting down a gun.

 

'Good!'  His Racing Driver didn't move away from the wall, and his hand stayed over his neck.

 

'Do you want to...what do you want me to do?'  Daniil waited with his hands up, but sent love through their bond.

 

'I want you to stop knowing about it,'  Tyazhelyy licked his lips a few times.  He clearly knew the futility of this wish.  After a moment of staring, he licked his lips again, 'But you can't stop knowing.'

 

'Do you want to tell me about it?'  Daniil asked, sensing that this was going to be the best thing to say.

 

The Racing Driver nodded, but otherwise didn't move.

 

He reached forward and led Tyazhelyy to the bench.  He sat close beside him and put his arm around his waist.  Tyazhelyy didn't take his hand down.

 

'It's my count.'

 

In Daniil's mind, this came across as a voice counting upwards.  The numbers weren't comprehensible, but the counting tone was unmistakable.

 

'When they knew I could race, they took me to the medical center.  The Trainer said it wouldn't hurt too much.'  There was a blank, emotionless quality to his sending that told Daniil that had been a lie.  Tyazhelyy's skin was so much more sensitive than his own.  It must have been torture, being tattooed.  'No matter what stable we are sent to, they will be able to look and see where I came from and who I belong to.'

 

Barcode.

 

Daniil's stomach turned.

 

'We are supposed to match, why didn't they make me get one?'

 

'You are the man.  How do they inventory men?'

 

'My number is on a card.'  He said.

 

Tyazhelyy nodded. 'That makes sense.'  He held Daniil's hand.  'You will always be the one who cuts my hair.  It will always be there, for the rest of my life.  Please don't look at it, though.'

 

Daniil squeezed his hand back.  'I promise.  I won't look at your count.'  Once had been enough.

 

Besides, he'd seen Tyazhelyy's serial number before.  He'd memorized it the first time he'd looked at his file.

**Author's Note:**

> If this made you feel anything, please leave a comment.


End file.
